Abstract

In responding to Ngugi wa Thiong'o's decolonial call for 'a quest for relevance', this essay deals with the issue of removal of colonial and apartheid-era monuments in South Africa as a way of creating a 'liberating perspective' and shaping a new national identity of the country. With a view to throwing light on the value and functionality of past vestiges, the paper engages with the definition of 'heritage' and its meaning for present-day communities. By examining the process of the selection of historical material and ways of assigning meaning to the relics of the past in heritage practice, it raises the question of power in historical knowledge production. By interrogating the concept of the truth of historical narratives, it discusses the plurality of interpretations of the past to stress the need for an 'ecumenical heritage' that would be relevant to the realities and self-image of South Africans today.

COVID-19 Corona Virus: South African Resource Portal

Covid-19 awareness campaign: How to protect yourself - Siya Kolisi

The Idea of Transformative Social Policy: Securing wellbeing in the African Context

Prof Jimi O. Adesina on how Social Policy is concerned with how society is structured to secure human wellbeing.

Ready or Not! Black Students' Experiences of South African Universities

"Ready or Not! Black Students' Experiences of South African Universities" is a short film by HSRC's Dr Alude Mahalai and the ESD team, offering a snapshot of students' structural and personal obstacles experienced in university.

Book launch: THE CAPE RADICALS Intellectual and political thought of the New Era Fellowship, 1930s-1960s

Crain Soudien and literary scholar Shaun Viljoen (author of a biography of Richard Rive) discuss the influential role of the New Era Fellowship (NEF) in redefining concepts of race and nationalism in South Africa in the mid-twentieth century and beyond. Read more about the event here.